Combination snow disintegrator, snow sweeper, and air saturator



April 12, 1955 J. PEP] 2,705,844

COMBINATION SNOW DISINTEGRATOR, SNOW SWEEPER AND AIR SATURATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 15, 1951 INVENTOR. JMJJ/ul.

2,705,844 SNOW April 12, 1955 J. PEP! COMBINATION SNOW DISINTEGRATOR SWEEPER AND AIR SATURATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 15, 1951 INVENTOR.

M0. BY 4 fig a \lllllllllllr April 12, 1955 J. PEPI COMBINATION SNOW DISINTEGRATOR, SNOW SWEEPER AND AIR SATURATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 15. 1951 Apn] 12, 1955 J. PEP] 2,705,844

COMBINATION SNOW DISINTEGRATOR, SNOW SWEEPER AND AIR SATURATOR Filed May 15, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 12, PEP] COMBINATION SNOW DISINTEGRATOR, SNOW SWEEPER AND AIR SATURATOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 15, 1951 INVE1YTOR.

(Mn BY l/LL Mom United States Patent COMBINATION SNOW DISINTEGRATOR, SNOW SWEEPER, AND AIR SATURATOR John Pepi, Quincy, Mass.

Application May 15, 1951, Serial No. 226,490

4 Claims. (Cl. 37-12) This invention relates to removal of snow from roadways, runways of airports, etc., and has for its main object to provide a novel system for snow removal by which the snow on the roadway or runway is picked up, converted into moisture, and discharged into the atmosphere with a minimum expenditure of fuel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel system of snow removal by which, for fuel economy reasons and also for the purpose of altering snow as a white color to eliminate reflection, the snow is picked up from the roadway and reduced mechanically to a fine powdery condition in which it is in the form of minute particles, many times smaller than an ordinary snowflake. While in this minute particle size snow is delivered into a mixing chamber through which a current of highly heated forced air is passing. The minute particles are converted into moisture and combined with the air, and the resulting mixture is discharged from the chamber into the atmosphere. Another object of the invention is to provide a snow removal apparatus including means for exhausting a current of air in which volatilized snow particles, preferably in the form of moisture, are carried in limited proportionate amounts such that the air remains in an unsaturated condition and will not produce a precipitation of moisture when exhausted.

Another object of the invention is to produce a snow removal apparatus of the above type which can be moved over a snow covered roadway at a high rate of speed, say 30 or 40 miles per hour, and which will effectively pick up all the snow on the roadway, convert the snow to moisture and exhaust the moisture in a stream of air.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this type which will effectively remove the snow from a roadway having a more or less uneven surface.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above type which will pick up and dispose of the snow on a roadway while rejecting foreign objects such as stones, bottles, wood, etc., and generally anything larger than one-quarter of an inch in size.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated a selected embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side view partly in section showing a snow removal apparatus embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the driving means for the snow disintegrating unit.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view showing the auxiliary snow disintegrating units for use in deep snow.

Fig. 5 is a front view of the snow removal apparatus.

Fig. 6 is a view illustrating the main snow disintegrating elements.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77, Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 77, Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section on the line 99, Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view showing the knee-action operation of the main snow disintegrating units.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary side view of the endless chain snow disintegrating unit.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the treads of said endless chain element.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of one of the links of the endless chain element.

Fig. 14 is a section on line 14--14, Fig. 11.

Figs. 15, 16 and 17 illustrate additional forms of conveyor chain structures which may also be employed in carrying out the method of the invention.

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a selfpropelled vehicle 1 on the order of a truck having an elevated body portion 2 carrying the power plant 3 for propelling the vehicle, and also having depending therefrom side portions 4 in which the rear or traction wheels 5 are mounted. The front or steering wheels 6 are also appropriately mounted in the side sections 4 of the truck.

The truck is driven from the power plant 3 through a driving shaft enclosed in a torque tube 7 which leads to a differential housing 8 in which is carried the usual differential gear mechanism. This differential drives two shaft sections 9 and 10 which are connected by sprocket wheels and sprocket chains 11 with the rear or traction wheels 5 as shown in Fig. 3.

Situated beneath the elevated truck body 2 and between the side sections 4 is a mixing chamber 12 having in its lower portion an inlet opening 13 through which the snow picked up from the roadway, and which has been disintegrated into minute particle size, is delivered. Said chamber also has one or more discharge openings 14, each of which communicates with a discharge duct 15 that leads to a discharge pipe or stack 16 extending vertically from the truck body. Each stack is surmounted by a ventilator or cowl 103 which can turn about a vertical axis and is provided with vane 104 on which the wind acts to maintain the discharge opening of the ventilator directed away from the wind.

Means are provided for delivering under pressure a current of highly heated air into the chamber 12 through the inlet opening 13, said highly heated forced air current functioning to aid in melting snow particles and to prevent volatilized snow particles in the form of moisture from congealing or freezing on inner surfaces of the mixing chamber. For example, if the air leaving the chamber and stack is maintained at a temperature of, roughly, 100 F., there will be no danger of congealing or freezing taking place, it is found.

The air to be heated is taken in through an air inlet 17 and through an inlet duct 18, and is heated to the high temperature by means of a burner 19 located adjacent the discharge end of the inlet duct 18. A fan or blower 100 is preferably located in the duct 18 for delivering to the burner 19 a relatively large volume of air under considerable velocity which thereby becomes highly heated. A deflector 101 is provided to direct the highly heated air into the receiving opening 13. The blower 101) may be operated by any suitable or usual means (not shown).

With this arrangement a current of highly heated forced air indicated at 20 is delivered into the inlet opening 13 and passes through the chamber 12 to the discharge ducts 15 as stated above.

Numeral 21 indicates air moving means in the form of a fan or blower which assists in forcing a strong air current from the chamber 12 through the discharge duct 15 and discharge pipe 16, and thereby a continuous forced flow of highly heated air is established throughout the chamber 12. Screens and 91 are preferably employed at each discharge opening 14, and if desired additional screens 92 and 93 may be placed in each duct 15. The screen 90 may be a coarse screen on the order of a A; inch mesh, and the other screens will preferably be finer. These screens serve to retard passage of volatilized snow particles in the form of moisture so that the air can be maintained in an unsaturated state and will not precipitate moisture when exhausted.

As stated above, the apparatus is provided with means to pick up snow from the roadway over which the vehicle is travelling and to disintegrate the snow into a fine condition having minute particle size which may be only slightly larger than micron silz. This snow disintegrating device comprises a plurality of high speed endless chain elements 22, each link of each element having a toothed section 23 secured thereto, which is specifically designed for shearing and cutting action. As shown each section 23 is formed with pockets or cavities 80 having inclined faces 81, and the front or leading face 82 of each section is also inclined, the inclination of each of said faces being approximately 60. These endless chain elements are carried in supporting frames 24 which are pivotally mounted on and carried by a transversely extending shaft 25 that extends across the truck and is journaled in suitable bearings carried thereby. The shaft 25 is a power driven shaft and it has thereon a plurality of sprockets 26 which mesh with and operate the endless chain elements 22. Each supporting frame 24 has at its lower end a shaft 27 on which a plurality of sprocket wheels 28 are mounted, the endless chain elements 22 passing around said sprocket wheels 28. Because of the pivotal mounting of the supporting frames 24 on the shaft 25, said frames have a knee action which permits the lower ends of the frames to rise and fall as shown in Fig. 11 and thus to follow all irregularities in the road surface.

Also mounted on the shaft 27 are a plurality of supporting disks 29 with suitable tread in rubber, or cast steel, which are adapted to have rolling contact with the road surface 30 and which have a suflicient diameter so that as the supporting disks 29 roll over the road surface the portion of the endless chain elements passing around the sprocket wheels 28 will be held just clear of the road surface.

These endless chain elements are situated slightly in front of and below the inlet opening 13 of the chamber, and means are provided for operating said endless chain elements at a high rate of speed, which may be on the order of 1200 or more R. P. M. and also at a constant speed. By reason of this construction and operation the knee action endless chain elements 22 pick up the snow on the roadway as the vehicle is moved forwardly thereover, and also disintegrate the snow as it is picked up, into a finely divided condition of minute particle size, the residue in such divided minute particle size condition being thrown back and upwardly by the rapidly rotating endless chain elements into the chamber 12 through the inlet opening 13, by reason of designed pitch in degrees, of the tooth sections as will be presently described. The endless chain elements 22 are spaced from each other by the supporting disks 29, and this spacing is maintained throughout the length of the chains. In order to prevent snow from passing between the chains and to direct all the snow into the paths thereof, there is provided a plurality of guide members 110 which are carried by the supporting frames 24 and which fill the spaces between the chains. The front edge 111 of each guide member is V-shaped and it projects slightly beyond the adjacent chains as shown in Fig. 17. The V-shaped edges part the snow and direct the same onto the chains so that all the snow is subjected to the disintegrating action thereof.

Situated at the rear side of the opening 13 is a receiving drum 31 which extends across the vehicle from one side section or shield to the other, and which is provided on its surface with transversely extending ribs 32, for grinding action.

Located within the chamber 12 are two other rotary receiving drums 33 and 34, each extending from one side to the other of the chamber 12, said drums being supported by the shafts 35 and 36 which are journaled in suitable bearings carried by the truck frame. The drums 33 and 34 also have peripheral ribs extending transversely thereof, and means are provided for rotating all three ilzrulgnsfiit a constant high speed on the order of, say, 1200 Some of the snow which is picked up by the endless chain elements 22 and is mechanically disintegrated into a finely divided particle size, is directed against the lower receiving drum 31 which is rotating in a counterclockwise direction, Fig. l, and part of such fine particle ice mixture with part liquefied water is directed against the upper drum 33 which is also rotating in a counterclockwise direction. The action of these rapidly rotating receiver drums 31 and 33 on the frozen particles which strike them is to further disintegrate such particles and convert them to a volatilized state such that the particles exist substantially in the form of moisture or fog. The upper drums 33, 34, also serve to distribute the spray of minute ice and water particles throughout the current of heated air that is passing through the chamber 12.

It is desirable to maintain the volatilized snow particles in contact with the stream of hot air for a short interval and to aid in doing this there is provided a baffle or deflector member 99 which is situated below the discharge opening 14 and which operates to force the heated Gurrent of air to move in a circular stream at some points in its passage through said chamber.

The temperature in the mixing chamber is kept in the vicinity of F. and the flow of air may be so controlled that what issues from each stack 16 by forced ejection should be air that is nearly, but not quite, saturated and which is on a 24 to 1 ratio, air to waterfor under, reducing to a minimum the possibility of precipitation of moisture as the air is exhausted, and at the same time no danger of moisture congealing is present.

An important feature of my invention is that the snow which is picked up from the roadway is reduced mechanically to the minute particle size condition in which it' -can be converted into a volatilized condition by the impact energy of the drums, and thus expensive melting as heretofore carried out by direct flame or steam is avoided. Moreover volatilizing snow particles in the form of moisture can be carried out by the method of the invention in a small fraction of the time required, using a flame or steam.

While the operation of the vehicle and the snow disintegrating units requires a certain amount of fuel yet such amount added to the amount required to operate the burner is considerably less than what would be required to accomplish an equal amount of road clearance by any other method involving the disposal of the snow on a wholly thermal basis.

A guard member 102 is employed underneath the drum 31 to protect it from injury.

The endless chain elements 23 and the drums 31, 33, 34 may be given their rapid rotative movement by any suitable means.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, there is provided for this purpose an internal combustion engine 37, the shaft of which is connected by bevel gears 38 with a driving shaft.39 having thereon a bevel gear 40 which meshes with and drives a bevel gear 41 on the shaft of the drum 31. The drum 33 is driven from the drum 31 by means of a sprocket chain drive 42.

The driving shaft 39 is connected by a universal joint 43 with a shaft section 44 having a bevel gear 45 thereon which meshes with and drives a bevel gear 46 on the shaft 25.

The drum 34 is driven from the shaft 25 through the medium of a sprocket chain drive 47.

The endless chain elements 22 are divided into groups, each group being carried by a separate supporting frame 24. Since each separate supporting frame 24 is mounted on the shaft 25 for turning movement, the lower ends of the separate supporting frames may rise and fall independently as the supporting disks 29 roll over the road surface 30, and by this knee action the lower ends of the endless chain elements 22 will accommodate themselves to any irregularities in the road surface and the device will be operative to clear a road surface, whether paved or unpaved, from snow, even though it is more or less uneven. Y

The desired stack temperature of 100 F. for air leaving the stack at the discharge end thereof may be maintained by a thermostat control member 48 which operates to control the operation of the burner 19 for heat production in any well known way, so that as 3 the equalizer chamber temperature decreases due to lheat exchange requirements, the burner will deliver an increased amount of heat, and when the stack temperature rises the stack blower fan 18 will deliver an increased amount of air for better high speed ejection control.;

It is also necessary to use said control memberf48 to regulate the speed of the fan or forced air moving means 21 so that the fan will be speeded up when the stack temperature rises and then automatically stopped when the stack temperature falls, below the critical point, which is assumed to be about 100 F.

Preferably the toothed sections 23 of the endless chain elements 22 are detachably mounted on the chain links, and for this purpose the links 49 are made with laterally extending flanges 50 to which the toothed *sections 23 are secured by screws 51. This construction provides for easy repair and periodic replacement of any link in case a toothed section becomes worn, damaged or broken.

Usually snow removal crews are set to Work clearing highways before the snow has accumulated to a depth. of three inches or so, and the apparatus as above described will take care of a snow cover of that depth. If the snow cover has accumulated to a depth of a foot or more it may be desirable to use secondary snow disintegrating units. Such additional or secondary units are illustrated at 52, 53, and 54 and are arranged one above the other at the front of the vehicle and in front of and above the snow-receiving opening 13 of the chamber 12.

Each such additional unit comprises a plurality of endless chain elements 55 similar to the primary knee action endless chain elements 22, and which are operated in a direction to feed snow with which they come in contact, downwardly, to the snow disintegrating elements 22, which is transversely regulated for spray purposes.

The endless chain elements 55 of the unit 52 are carried by sprocket wheels 56, 57 (see Fig. mounted on shafts 58 and 59. The endless chain elements of the unit 53 are mounted on sprocket wheels 60 and 61 carried by shafts 62 and 63, and the endless chain elements 55 of the unit 54 are carried by sprocket wheels 64, 65 mounted on shafts 66 and 67.

The shaft 58 is positively driven by suitable gearing which connects it with the shaft section 44. Said shaft section 44 is connected through a suitable clutch mechanism 68 with a shaft section 69 that is provided with a universal joint 70 and which has mounted thereon a bevel gear 71 that meshes with and drives a bevel gear 72 fast on the shaft 58. By this means the unit 52 may be positively operated, on a fixed location basis.

The units 53 and 54 are connected to and driven by the shaft 58 through the medium of a sprocket chain 73 which extends around a sprocket wheel mounted on the shaft 58 and which meshes with sprocket wheels 74 and 75 carried by the shafts 62 and 66. 76 is an idler sprocket wheel which maintains the sprocket chain 73 in driving engagement with the sprocket wheel 74.

When the clutch 68 is disengaged the units 52, 53 and 54 will be inoperative, and this condition may exist when the primary knee action units are being used to remove from the roadway a light or moderate snow cover varying from of an inch up to four to six inches. If the snow cover is of any considerable depth up to 8 feet deep, then the clutch 68 will be thrown into engagement so that the units 52, 53 and 54 will become operative to feed the deep snow downwardly and deliver it to the snow disintegrating endless knee action chain elements 22.

77 indicates a curtain mounted on a roll 78 which may be drawn down in front of the units 52, 53 and 54 as shown in Fig. 1 when said units are not in use, in order to keep the secondary disintegrators free of snow and ice. When conditions are such that it is desirable to use the units 52, 53 and 54 for quick action the curtain 77 may be rolled up onto the roll 78.

79 indicates deflecting scraper elements arranged one at each side of the vehicle at its front end for the purpose of plowing the snow in front of the front wheels inwardly into position and confined direction where it will be acted on and disintegrated by the endless knee action chain elements 22.

If the snow is very deep it may be desirable to use vertically extending knife blades 94 at the front of the vehicle to cut into deep drifts and thus open a way for the passage of the vehicle. Such blades are shown as being mounted on brackets 95 secured to the front of the vehicle.

An apparatus embodying my invention is intended to take care of any snow cover having a depth of from A of an inch to eight feet or so, and it accomplishes this by clearing the roadway of snow and delivering the snow residue into the sky as moisture laden air. The snow is thus completely disposed of while in a state of suspension as distinguished from being pushed to the side of the roadway by means of plows, and thus forming a very unsatisfactory condition, as a snow bank.

128, 121, 122, and 123 represent gasoline and fuel oil tanks for supplying fuel to the power plant 3, the engine 37, and the burner 19.

The device shown herein is an improvement on the device illustrated in my earlier Pat. No. 2,588,039, issued March 4, 1952.

I claim:

1. In a portable snow removing apparatus including a motor propelled vehicled having an elevated body and spaced supporting structure therefor, axles carried by the supporting structure, wheels mounted on the axles driven by said motor, a transversely extending mixing chamber beneath said body having inlet and outlet openings, a duct connected with the inlet opening, a heater and blower in said duct for delivering heated air to said mixing chamber, an outlet duct connected to said outlet opening, a transversely positioned snow pick-up device arranged forwardly of the inlet opening in said mixing chamber, said pick-up device comprising a plurality of endless belts, each belt including link members having recesses formed in their working faces, and a plurality of driven receiving drums for directing and distributing snow from said pick-up device into and through said mixing chamber, a spaced pair of said receiving drums being arranged at the inlet opening and another drum being positioned inwardly of the spaced drum, and means for driving said drums and pick-up device.

2. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that screens are arranged in said outlet duct to disintegrate the snow and air passing therethrough.

3. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that the belts are arranged in groups having interposed therebetween means for spacing same from the surface to be worked.

4. The structure of claim 1 characterized in that one receiving drum is positioned to direct the heated air from the air duct into contact with the snow particles delivered by the pick-up assembly after the particles have been projected against another of said receiving drums.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 258,150 Stock May 16, 1882 1,466,614 Dunwald Aug. 28, 1923 1,480,622 Lee Jan. 15, 1924 1,642,895 Robinson et a1. Sept. 20, 1927 1,742,968 Polak Jan. 7, 1930 1,753,757 Smith Apr. 8, 1930 1,793,523 Speer Feb. 24, 1931 2,364,315 Powell Dec. 5, 1944 2,366,386 Clark Jan. 2, 1945 2,602,443 Leary July 8, 1952 

